


Along For The Ride

by DashFlintceschi



Series: Prompt Table [15]
Category: Bring Me The Horizon, You Me At Six
Genre: Dan's friends play matchmaker, Dan's paralysed, Josh comes to his recue, M/M, it's a small world
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-14
Updated: 2015-06-14
Packaged: 2018-04-04 09:05:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,078
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4131883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DashFlintceschi/pseuds/DashFlintceschi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dan's been a bit of a hermit since the accident. His friends use him meeting Josh to pull him back out of his shell.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Along For The Ride

**Author's Note:**

> Also part of my prompt table. I made the last five Writer's Choice, so I can post it online, if I ever figure out how to post it as a table. This is the first of the Writer's Choice, number forty-six, Disability, as if I haven't written enough of those.

Dan sighs in exasperation, his fifth ‘excuse me’ coming out with an unsurprising frustrated tone to it.

“If you inconsiderate dickbags could move some time today, that’d be great,” an angry voice snaps sarcastically from behind him, and the group of teenage girls blocking the path look around with disgruntled expressions, but still move away.

“Oh sure, listen to the guy with working legs! Very nice,” Dan calls after them sarcastically, then turns his chair to look up at the guy standing behind him. “Thanks, I thought I was going to have to run them over,” he comments, and the guy laughs, though he’s still frowning.

“You shouldn’t have needed me to move them,” he comments, and Dan shrugs.

“Most people don’t really notice much that’s above or below their eye-line, the rest are just ignorant bastards,” he replies, turning his chair back to the way he was originally going and heads off with another ‘thanks’, and a vague wave behind himself.

The guy quickly jogs to catch up with him, though, and walks beside him.

“So, hi, I’m Josh,” he introduces himself, and Dan gives him a bemused smile.

“Hi, I’m Dan,” he responds, wondering where this is going.

“So, how would you feel about going out with me sometime?” Josh asks, and Dan laughs slightly.

“You… You do realise I’m paralysed, right?” He asks, sparing Josh a quick glance as he manoeuvres around a group of old women sitting outside a café, noticing Josh’s confused smile.

“Really? I just thought you were using that chair for fun,” he replies sarcastically, and Dan snorts. “Why do you feel like you need to bring that up?” Josh asks, and Dan laughs humourlessly as he stops, letting a happy, curious Golden Retriever sniff around his legs and chair.

“Because every guy that’s ever shown interest has run a mile when they realised I’m paralysed,” he informs him as he scratches the happy little dog’s head.

“Well, I’m fully aware that you’re paralysed, and I’m not going anywhere, so, is that your only objection to going out with me, or what?” He asks as they move on, and Dan shrugs as they get to the square Dan was heading for, and he spots Max waiting for him by the fountain.

“Not sure, don’t know you well enough yet,” he tells him as they reach Max.

“This guy bothering you, mate?” Max asks, eyeing Josh suspiciously, and Dan shrugs again, then turns back to Josh.

“I’ll think about it,” he tells him, reaching behind himself to retrieve a notebook and pen from the bag hanging from the handles of his chair and handing them to Josh, who quickly scribbles down his number and passes it back. Max mumbles something about how they’re going to be late, and Dan nods, dumping the notebook and pen back in his bag and swivelling his chair round.

“So, you’ll call me, yeah?” Josh calls out to his retreating back, and Dan throws a wave over his shoulder.

“I’ll think about it!” He calls back as Max laughs.

Dan groans as he realises Max has gotten their friends to gang up on him with him.

“Look, all we’re saying is, you’ve done nothing but push people away ever since the accident, we think this could be good for you,” Tom insists, and Dan sighs.

“I haven’t been pushing people away, people have been running away,” he argues, and Nicholls scoffs.

“Ok, there have been a few dickheads that have run off, but you’re still pushing people away. When was the last time you saw your mum, or even spoke to her? Or Sarah? And shit, this is the first time in three months we’ve gotten you to come out with us. And most of the time, you don’t answer your phone, or the door, even though we know you’re there. You’ve been avoiding the people you care about, and now you’re pushing people away before they even get the chance to care, and we’re not letting you do it anymore,” he insists, and Dan sighs, but he nods all the same.

“You’re right. I’m sorry, I didn’t even realise I was pushing everyone away. I won’t anymore. I’ll go to mum’s for dinner tonight, make it a weekly thing, and I’ll start coming out with you guys again,” he concedes, but Jordan lifts his hand in a ‘wait’ gesture.

“And what about the guy who gave you his number, Josh? You gonna call him? From what you said, he made it clear that he’s fully aware that you’re paralysed, and he doesn’t give a shit, I really do think he’d be good for you,” he insists, and the others nod, and Dan sighs in defeat.

“Alright, fine,” he agrees, pulling his phone and the notebook from his bag, copies the number into the ‘to:’ field, then quickly types out a text and hits send. “There, I asked him to meet me in the square on Saturday, happy now?” He asks, and the four of them nod, satisfied for the time being.

Dan keeps his word, he has dinner with his mum and sister that night, both of them waving of his apologies for being so distant; he starts spending more time with his friends; and on Saturday, despite how badly he wants to make some excuse to not go, he’s waiting at the fountain where he last saw Josh, at bang on one o’clock, as agreed.

He waits for a few minutes, and he’s just about to give up, when he spots Josh’s lanky frame weaving towards him through the crowds. As soon as he reaches Dan, Josh leans down and presses a kiss to Dan’s cheek, causing a surprised flush to raise up his face.

“Hey, sorry I’m late, I didn’t realise they’d shut main street for the farmer’s market, so I had to double back,” he explains, and Dan nods.

“S’alright, don’t worry about it,” he shrugs off, and Josh smiles.

“Alright, so what are we up to?” He asks as they start to wander through the square, and Dan shrugs with one shoulder.

“Well, I wasn’t sure, I mean, this is the first time I’ve properly gone out with anyone since the accident, so, I mean, there’s not a lot of date stuff I can do now. Lunch seemed boring and clichéd, the cinema doesn’t really work, with the chair, and besides, it’s such a nice day, it seems ridiculous to want to spend it in a dark room. So, I figured we could just wander around, enjoy the nice weather, get to know each other better. Or, if there’s something you want to do, we can see if I can manage it,” he tells him, and Josh nods.

“Sounds good to me. So, should we head for the farmer’s market or avoid it at all cost?” He asks, and Dan laughs.

“Avoid at all cost. It’s difficult enough to get people to move out of my way, it’ll be impossible in there,” he insists, and Josh nods, moving a bit closer and resting his hand on Dan’s shoulder. “What are you doing?” Dan asks curiously, and Josh smiles. 

“Well, I wanted to hold your hand, but I can’t while you’re pushing yourself, so this is the next best thing,” he explains, and Dan smiles.

They wander around town for a while, occasionally slipping into shops that look interesting. Things are going well, until they go into Tesco so Josh can get some water. Dan wanders away to where he knows the chocolate is, he has a bit of a craving for something chocolate-y. He’s deliberating between a Mars Bar and a Twix, when suddenly, someone turns his chair and starts pushing him down the aisle. He twists around and finds a middle aged woman pushing his chair, a look of determination on her face.

“What the fuck are you doing, lady?!” He snarls, but she ignores him and keeps going, until Josh’s surprisingly formidable frame blocks the end of the aisle.

“What the hell are you doing?!” He growls, and she frowns defensively.

“He shouldn’t be on his own, he’s defenceless and vulnerable. I was taking him to security to call for his carer,” she insists, and Dan snarls wordlessly, then notices she’s let go of his chair to cross her arms over her chest angrily, and he quickly pushes himself away from her, over to Josh.

Josh turns and flags down a passing shop worker, and asks her to bring security to them.

“I hope you know that what you just did is assault, and attempted kidnapping, and we will be pressing charges,” he spits at the woman, just as two men in uniforms come up behind them.

Once the whole debacle is sorted out, they go back to their wandering.

“Is it really assault?” Dan asks quietly after a while, and Josh nods.

“Hell, technically, it could be considered sexual assault. I mean, she did do something to your body that you didn’t consent to, so…” He trails off, and Dan sighs.

“I’m so fucking sick of people treating me like that. Thanks for not being one of them,” he says softly, and Josh smiles as he shrugs.

“I prefer to see for myself what people are capable of, not make assumptions. And besides, with guns like that, I’m pretty sure you’re capable of more than I am,” he compliments, making Dan blush as he laughs.

The sun’s starting to set as they wander in the general direction of Dan’s flat, and Josh finally asks.

“So, if you don’t mind me asking, what happened?” He asks gently, motioning to Dan’s legs.

“Car crash. A drunk driver hit me doing ninety. It’s not actually my spine that’s damaged, the front of the car was crushed, it pinned my legs, destroyed all the connections, or whatever. I’m only paralysed from mid-thigh down,” he explains, and Josh nods.

“Did he get what he deserved?” He asks, and Dan nods.

“She, but yeah. Fifteen to twenty for reckless endangerment,” he tells him, just as they turn the corner onto Dan’s street.

As they get closer to Dan’s flat, Josh squints at a car parked outside in confusion.

“What the hell is he doing here?” He asks, mostly to himself. As they reach the car, the doors open, and Dan’s friend, Tom, and his brother, who Dan’s only met a few times, get out, both wearing surprised grins.

“It’s a small world after all,” Tom sings softly, and Dan frowns in confusion.

“What the hell are you talking about?” He asks, and Tom laughs.

“Apparently, the Josh we talked you into going out with is Oli’s best mate,” he explains, motioning to his brother with a grin.

Josh turns to Oli with a frown.

“All I’ve done all week is talk about him, and you didn’t think to mention that your brother knew him?” He asks, and Oli shrugs.

“I’ve only met him a few times, and the last time was before the accident, I didn’t put everything together until now,” he defends, and Josh finds he can’t blame him.

At that, Tom turns to Dan with a grin.

“So, Fifa and a play-by-play?” He asks, and Dan laughs, tossing his keys to Tom.

“Sure, go on in, I’ll be there in a sec,” he agrees, and Tom nods, turning and heading inside.

“Why don’t I take a wander, give you two a minute to yourselves?” Oli asks with a knowing grin, which Josh returns with a grateful one.

“Actually,” Dan starts, making Oli pause, “why don’t you guys join us?” He offers, and the two of them have a silent conversation with facial expressions, then both nod.

“Sure, we were probably just going to go to Josh’s and do the same thing, anyway,” Oli agrees, and Dan leads them inside.

A while later, Dan and Tom are losing miserably at Fifa, when Tom turns to Dan.

“So, are you two going to get married now?” He asks with a fake innocent, child-like voice, and Oli and Josh laugh, but Dan thinks about it, then nods.

“Actually, we probably are, if he can put up with me that long, anyway,” he answers seriously, and Josh laughs.

“I think I can manage that,” he agrees sincerely, and Dan grins, using Josh’s distraction to score a goal, not that it’ll help them win at this point. And Dan thinks, yeah, this might just be alright, after all.


End file.
